Brave new world
Visitors ot the new Dewar's World of Whisky centre will be dazzled by the arry but thank heavens real distilling gets a look in.
The Scotch whisky industry has come a long way since the day in 1969 when Glenfiddich opened the countryâs first purpose-built distillery visitor centre, while their competitors looked on with a blend of curiosity and amusement.
However, with the opening last month of the innovative £2 million Dewarâs World of Whisky at Aberfeldy in Perthshire,
a new benchmark has been set, against which all future developments will have to be measured.
Aberfeldy has been associated with the famous Dewar name since its opening in 1898 (see Whisky Magazine, Issue 7), and for many years was part of the DCL/United Distillers portfolio, passing to Bacardi Martini in 1998 along with the Dewarâs brands and four other distilleries, as part of a £1,150 million package. Aberfeldy single malt is at the heart of the White Label blend.
According to Bacardi Martiniâs global brands director Neil Boyd, âWe looked at the other 43 distillery visitor centres in Scotland and decided we didnât want Aberfeldy to be the 44th. We wanted to create something exciting, involving, dynamic and interactive. We are hoping to attract 40,000 visitors in our first year, but the quality of the experience is more important than numbers. We will treat this as a brand centre rather than a profit centre.â
âWeâre not just competing with other distillery visitor attractions here in Scotlandâ, he emphasises. âOur competitors are places like Jack Danielâs in Tennessee, the World of Coke in Atlanta, and t.....
To read the rest of this article you can buy this issue
or subscribe to Whisky Magazine to have every issue delivered direct to your door.
You can unlock and read this entire article with 1 of your community tokens by clicking here.
By Gavin D. Smith
Section : Whisky Travel
Page number : 34
